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Brothers beat up man in Droitwich after argument over woman

TWO brothers in their 30s behaved “like 14-year-olds” when they beat up a man in Droitwich in an argument over a woman.

James Dunkley met the man, Mark Harrison, in The Doverdale pub in Droitwich, on the evening of May 27 last year, Worcester Crown Court heard.

Mr Harrison was with his girlfriend, who had previously been in a relationship with James' brother, Thomas Dunkley, Peter Grice, prosecuting, said.

There was bad feeling between them and they got into an argument which came to blows. After they left, James called his brother and told him what had happened.

The brothers started trying to track down Mr Harrison, calling him and leaving a message saying "you've dug your own grave." When they failed to find him, they went to his parents' home and behaved in a threatening manner.

Mr Harrison eventually called them back and they agreed to meet in an alleyway in Droitwich. Thomas told his brother to stay in the car but he went along, concealing a lump of wood or a tree branch inside his trousers to use as a weapon.

Thomas and Mr Harrison started fighting and ended up on the floor. James intervened to help his brother and hit Mr Harrison with the wood more than twenty times.

Mr Harrison was also kicked and punched and had his ear bitten, needing four stitches.

Sabhia Pathan defending both, said James had suffered two black eyes as a result of the argument at the pub. His brother was "outraged" when he was told, she said.

James had no previous convictions and had a good job, she said, and had been taking steps to deal with his drinking. Unemployed Thomas had problems with his temper and had been on anti-depressants.

Judge Christopher Plunkett said to them, "arguing over a woman, running around town and arranging to meet in a dark alleyway to sort it out" would be bad enough behaviour for 14-year-olds. But for grown men in their thirties it was "disgraceful" and the violence was more serious. They had given Mr Harrison a "right beating" and it was lucky his injuries were not more serious.

He said they had escaped immediate custody by a very narrow margin because of their previous records, the genuine remorse they had shown and the support of their family.

He gave them each a 16 month sentence suspended for two years. He also ordered Thomas to attend an anger management course and do 200 hours of unpaid work with twelve months supervision by the probation service. James was also ordered to do 250 hours unpaid work with six months supervision.

They were ordered to pay £250 each as a token of compensation to Mr Harrison.